Since the recent ruling of the Supreme Court affirming Rt. Hon Martins Amaewhule and 26 others as valid members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, it is increasingly becoming difficult for any pundit to decipher the next stage in the crisis, in clear terms.
This owes largely to the very nature of the crisis itself and its ever-growing tributaries of deeper discords that border on the real, the mundane and the imagined.
The zero-some game of politics in our Clime, which leaves the loser with nothing, not even with enough tears to cry, makes the roundtable of realignments, reconciliation and Reunion of ideas and people, almost always impossible. Yet, this is what Rivers State and the dramatis personae, in her seemingly endless crisis, require now given the circumstances.
The Apex Court has given its judgement and the infallibility of the judgement, no matter how one cries or disagrees, lies in its finality. This, therefore, leaves no room for a further appeal in this case in point. Where does that leave both parties, other than to find a way of reconciliation and concessions for the sake of peace and development for the Rivers people?
Both parties and their supporters must eat the humble pie, and come down from the high horse to embrace the reality of a peaceful solution to a potentially and mutually destructive crisis that has been fueled by ego and the test of resolve.
Those who are muting the idea of impeachment of the governor by a House numerically superior to the Governor’s loyalists must know that it may not be an easy task but another road to Golgotha. It is the poor and the helpless that suffer when
“two elephants” fight.
While Governor Fubara is waiting for another “esoteric” interpretation and implication of the ruling, which is already obvious and palpable, let those who think they have won know that nobody wins in a roforofo fight that has sent the people, two steps backwards. Peace-building and development are far beyond the euphoria of favourable judicial pronouncements and legalese.
The ultimate goal is the welfare and well-being of the people of Rivers State and not the biceps and triceps of the lead fighters or Sons and Fathers. Let each party reach out to the other for a roundtable.
